26: Nothing she could do
by cali-chan
Summary: He looked so worried... It broke her heart to see him like this, so defeated. She moved closer to him, ready to comfort him. She wanted to help him... but there was nothing she could do. [FxE, preseries]


Walking past the door, she found him. He was slumped over his desk, reading a book. He was wearing his white coat, true testimony that he had ended up there right after he came back from the hospital, not even bothering to change into his bedclothes. It wasn't an unusual sight; his mind revolved only around her, and his work. Oftentimes he spent entire nights studying in that very desk, learning new things in order to have a better grasp of his profession. It was one thing she loved about him-- his dedication to helping others. 

She had an internal debate for a few minutes, doubtful if she should bother him or not. Finally, she decided on the former. 

"It's late... Shouldn't you be sleeping, my love?" 

Faust turned to her with a flinch. He seemed surprised to see her. Was there something wrong? Usually he'd stand up, walk up to her with a smile, and kiss her. Was he sick? Did something happen at the hospital? It was probably that, yes. He looked so worried... It broke her heart to see him like this, so defeated. She moved closer to him, ready to confort him, as was her duty as his wife. She wanted to help him... 

But what happened was the complete opposite: when he looked at her, he took a deep breath, and his eyes turned calm, as if he were relieved to see her there. "I should've guessed you'd come here," he said, his lips drawing a smile that was not really happy. It was one of the things that had always made her wonder about him, how his face would sometimes say one thing, and his voice would say something completely different. 

She smiled confortingly, walking a few more steps towards him. "Sorry," she said, with her soft, melodious voice. "I just came down to get some water, and I couldn't help but notice you hadn't come into our room yet..." 

She looked into his eyes, willing him to tell her just what was wrong. It usually didn't take long for him to open up to her, since they'd been together since... forever, and they were completely honest with each other all the time. But instead, he held his hand out. 

"Eliza, come here." 

She went to him, confused, but never doubting him. He wanted to show her something, but, this late at night? With outmost care, as if she were going to break if he touched her, he led her outside. They walked along a familiar path; she knew they were going towards the river. He had taken her there often when he was still courting her. When they finally got there, they stopped at the bridge, and he leaned against the railing, looking up at the sky. She imitated his posture. 

Turning to look at him, she smiled. "I love it when the night is so clear like this." 

He smiled; but yet again, it was only a half-smile, like before. "I know." 

"And I love you," she finished, trying to make him feel better. 

"I know," he replied, raising a hand to touch her golden hair. "I love you, too." 

Taking her hand again, he continued along the path. He started telling her stories of the time when they were still children, how much fun they'd had, and how he'd known he loved her since the very beginning. And she laughed accordingly and felt her cheeks go warm whenever he would say something sweet. She was so immersed in his voice, that she didn't see the building they were walking to until they stopped. 

"Why are we at the hospital?" she asked, curious. She went there often, as she was training to become a nurse, but after Faust and her got married, she had decided to take a little break. It had been weeks since the last time she'd set foot inside. 

He didn't answer her question, he just pulled her inside. As a doctor, he had free access to the building, even at that time of the night. They walked through a few corridors and went up a couple of flights of stairs, until they finally stopped in front of a door. It was room 213. Eliza grew more curious by the second. Was is somebody they knew? Was someone gravely injured, and Faust hadn't wanted to tell her so as to not make her worry? It didn't seem to be the case. Both her and Faust were accustomed to seeing death and injury daily, so he wouldn't feel apprehension when it came to that. 

He opened the door, still silent, and let her pass. The room was like any other room in the building: two beds, with curtains as to separate the patients. Different instruments were strewn about, the whole room as white as purity. In this case, one bed was empty. The other one had the curtains in place, so she couldn't see who was in it. 

Faust took one look at her and walked towards the bed. With his gaze towards the ground, almost sadly, he drew the curtains so she could see who the patient was. 

It was herself. 

She felt her whole body grow pale. But was it, really? How could this be? In the bed, she was hooked to a series of instruments, the most noticeable being a heart monitor that was beeping, meaning there was no heartbeat rate. She knew what that meant... but it couldn't be... 

She was dead. 

Yet she was not. She turned to her husband for an explanation, and found him looking at her, his eyes humid. Another impossible; Faust never cried. Something had to be horribly wrong in this picture... 

He took a slow step towards her, trying to speak, but apparently not being able to. It took him a few more tries to find his voice. 

"You can still make it," he said, and she felt her heart breaking. But, was the feeling real? "Please, Eliza... come back to me." 

At that moment, she wanted to cry with all her heart. But she couldn't. 

She couldn't. 

"I wish I could make it better for you..." she whispered, walking towards him and raising her hand to stroke his hair, as he had done to her but minutes ago. She touched his face, wiping his tears delicately. What could she say in such a situation. He still hung up to hope, looking at her as if it were his life hanging from a thread, hanging from her answer. She wished with all her might she could walk to that bed and wake up again. She wanted to be with him more than anything. She couldn't leave him... he needed her. 

"But... I can't." 

She watched him break down, falling to his knees on the floor and burying his head on his arms, until the tears came. She wished she could comfort him... but there was nothing she could do. And she hoped he'd know there was nothing he could do, either.   
  
---   
  
author's notes-- 

SHORT! I know. What can I say? This ficlet has been sitting somewhere on my computer for... over a year, I think. It all started the day went to see Matrix Reloaded last year. For some reason, whenever I watch any of the Matrix movies, I remember this other movie, The Sixth Sense. I know, I'm weird-- the fact is that I watched the Sixth Sense and Matrix I the same day (I rented both), and since then, I've forever related them to each other. Ok, the point of this was that Matrix Reloaded made me think of the Sixth Sense, and the Sixth Sense made me think of Mankin, and of course my brain had to go and think up a warped "doesn't-know-he-or-she-is-dead" plot for a fanfic. Go figure. 

This actually started as a Yoh/Anna fic. And yes, I know some people (*cough*YonaShippers*cough*) are going to want to strangle me after I said this. The fic was actually going to have Yoh dying and Anna trying to make him come back. But guess what? I can't write Yona angst! No, no, no! They have to be happy, happy, happy! So I thought of Faust and Eliza. Faust has always been one of my favorite characters in Mankin, because I find his reason to want to become the Shaman King the most believable out of all the others (no offense to Yoh, but really-- wanting a peaceful life? There are so many things that are more important than that! I mean, to find a "special place"? A tree field? To be the strongest? To create a Shaman World? Are they for real?), and I wanted to sort of do something for him. He's gone through so much... Poor guy. I wuv him! *hugglez Faust 'til he can't breathe* This fanfic was the result. 

I know I have a lot of canon-contradicting issues in this one. Was Eliza even really a nurse? I figure she was, but since I wasn't really sure, I went for the middle ground-- she's studying to become one. I don't even know if humans can touch spirits! I think I've seen this a few times in Mankin, but then again, it's been ages since I saw an episode (damned be my schedule for this semester!) and I could be wrong. Any other errors please skip over. English is not my native language and I might screw it up here and there. Please review! Tell me what you thought of it! Make me happy, come on... -cali-chan. 


End file.
